All we have is us - Lapidot TeacherStudent AU
by Frogpuppet123
Summary: Peridot thinks her final year of high school will continue without a hitch, until she finds out her new teacher gives her ... weird feelings. Disclaimer; This is a work of fiction and I do not condone or encourage this behavior in real life.
1. Chapter 1

Peridot sighed as she trundled through the hallways. She held her books closely to her chest, muscles rippling with anxiety. Her blonde hair stuck out in three different directions, unkempt. Her glasses were balanced precariously across the bridge of her nose, steadied only by the plastic tips that stamped her dark under eyes.

She shifted her green eyes nervously across the hallway.

It was their first day back at school. She could sense the tension in the air. People thought a new year was an opportunity for a fresh beginning, to become something they weren't. They took advantage of the shuffled classmates and the vulnerable adjustment period and tried to assert themselves as popular.  
They tried but were almost never successful. There was a reason they still had the same niches after five long years.  
Peridot knew where she stood with others and she was comfortable with that. She belonged right in the middle of an invisible social hierarchy, not low enough to be a target for bullying and not high enough to be popular.  
Foreign students saw her as a nerd solely due to her appearance. However she had an obnoxious personality with dry humor to boot which some people found endearing, luckily.

She had friends, she had a life and that was enough.

The bell wailed like an air raid siren, breaking her from her thought.  
Although Peridot had heard it many times before, she still jumped. There was a spike in the atmosphere, sharp and present like a needle. Peridot looked around as students filled the hallways, hurrying to their assigned classes.  
Peridot inhaled and then joined the masses, hoping that she would have some friends in her class.

She knew the school like the back of her hands so finding room sixty-seven wasn't a problem. It was located in the West Wing where most of the English courses were taken. Each building in her school had a different design. The English block's were warm and insulated with an ugly but soft carpet. Also most of the classrooms were equipped with heaters.

Peridot was grateful that on this cold day, when her plaid scarf and stussy jacket weren't enough to fend from the temperature, that she had English first.  
Peridot bust the double doors, watching with a smirk as a few younger students bustled past her, hissing at each other in anger. She remembered being that naive and worried. Although .. she was a little nervous (as she had disclosed) her pace was still leisurely.  
Peridot turned a corner and found the door labelled sixty-seven. She sighed and grabbed the handle, pushing gently against the door which groaned as its hinges swung, revealing an open classroom. It was warm, just as she predicted. Peridot welcomed the heat and stepped inside, removing her scarf in the process. She could see Steven and Amethyst on the table next to her, with a vacant seat.

 **"Hi guys!"** Peridot said, rushing over to their table and putting her stuff down. /p  
 **"Hey there,"** Steven replied with parallel enthusiasm, making Peridot smile. She'd forgotten how much she missed him. The female leaned over and pinched his rosy cheeks, making some baby noises./p  
 **"I've missed you Steven. You too Amethyst!"** Peridot exclaimed, releasing Steven from her grasp.  
Steven laughed and rubbed his cheeks.

Peridot turned to Amethyst and they locked eye contact. The other girl had long, beautiful hair. She looked like a well-tempered young lady for a second. There was a moment of silence and then they all started laughing. Amethyst most obnoxiously with an accompanying snort.  
 **"I've missed you too, shortie!"** Amethyst teased, rubbing Peridot's already messy hair with her knuckles. Peridot scowled then ducked out of the way.  
 **"We're the same height!"** Peridot protested, looking to Steven for help. He shrugged. Peridot scowled.  
She wasn't actually offended, of course. It was just the kind of humor and mannerisms Amethyst and Steven seemed to enjoy. The kind that ... kept them all together. Steven acted as a mediator. A glue under stress. Amethyst was humorous and knew no social boundaries whilst Peridot was a contending personality but they still all fit together like some fucked up jigsaw puzzle.

Peridot listened to them both gripe about the cold and then a woman entered the classroom, one with the stature and grace much suggestive of an authority figure. Although, as Peridot observed, she seemed quite young. It was almost refreshing seeing a young teacher. All they ever got was old batty gasbags.  
Peridot watched as the woman slammed a pile of sheets in a clear file on a desk. The resounding noise caught the attention of the students who hadn't yet noticed her entry and soon all the eyes were on the young, short blue-haired woman. She moved around the front of the classroom in her heels in total silence. She scrawled her name on the board with a whiteboard pen. Peridot heard the pen screech as she flicked the 'L' in her name.

 **"Mrs. Lazuli. I will be your English teacher for the year. I hope I can get to know all of you and I hope to see you all off to university on a positive note."** She introduced in a sturdy tone.  
Peridot felt her mouth go dry. She could already tell English was going to be her favourite subject. Whilst the others seemed afraid of Mrs. Lazuli, Peridot found herself conflicted in feelings. She liked the new teacher, but not in any way that should be considered appropriate. For one, they were both females and two, she was a teacher. A teacher. At the school.

 **"Alright class, lets begin."**  
Peridot didn't spend much of that class time listening. She was paying attention but not in a way that could be seen as educational. Mrs. Lazuli was briefing the class on future assignments, class behavior, expectations, externals and all that boring stuff but Peridot couldn't seem to zero in on the content of her words.  
Steven and Amethyst would prod her in the shoulder and draw her back into their conversation. Peridot blinked her eyes and realized she should be paying attention to them as well.  
 **"Sorry,"** Peridot said, rolling her eyes. That elicited a small chuckle from Amethyst. Steven just narrowed his eyes, suspicion peering through the black. Peridot pretended she hadn't noticed and put her head down, focusing on the worksheet which was more of 'get-to-know-you' activity.

Mrs. Lazuli had heard the laugh and her head snapped up. She sighed, dramatically flipping the pages of the teaching book she had been reading before bee-lining for their table.  
Peridot watched the teacher come closer and fumbled with her pen, pretending to look busy and knowledgeable. She knew Amethyst would cop most of the blame as she was responsible for the laugh but she couldn't help but feel nervous and the blue-haired teacher entered her vicinity.  
Amethyst finally realized what was happening and tried to follow suit and pick a pen, feigning a studious look. Mrs. Lazuli was fooled and arched an eyebrow, resting a hand on Peridot's chair whilst looking disapprovingly at Amethyst.

 **"Are you the problem student?"** Mrs. Lazuli asked with a lethargic sigh, looking at Amethyst.

 **"She is, Miss,"** Peridot testified boldly, shooting a devilish smirk at Amethyst. The other girl smacked a fist against her palm, an action that suggested a beating was coming later. Steven continued scrawling onto his paper. It was all in good jest of course, as Peridot knew. _Maybe she'll be impressed by my incredible wit and humor._

Mrs. Lazuli leaned down towards Peridot, unimpressed with the exchange.

 **"Or ... are you all problem students?"** Mrs. Lazuli said with a fiendish smile.  
Peridot felt her heart quicken as the teacher leaned near her face. Her stomach flip-flopped and she shook, the pen quivering in her sweaty palms. She shrugged. It was the only response that could possibly make her look somewhat aloof and uncaring even though she was struggling to breathe right.  
Then, like a miracle from the gods, Mrs. Lazuli leaned away and Peridot felt safe again.  
"Okay, well, you don't have to be problem students. I hope I can see an improvement in behavior by next class," Mrs. Lazuli said sarcastically as she addressed the entire group now, flicking her hair over her shoulders as she pranced away.

Most of the class went by in a blur and Peridot was just a shell of herself. She was too shy to deal with that level of intimacy. She knew that the sexual tension between them was only one-sided but it was still super intense and she didn't want to do anything that would warrant another visit from Mrs. Lazuli. Needless to say she was uncomfortably silent the rest of the class.  
As the bell rang, adjourning the session, Peridot was the first to scamper out the door. She gave no excuse to her friends but Mrs. Lazuli watched as the blonde haired girl scampered out the door and narrowed her eyes.  
As soon as Peridot was out the door she exclaimed a loud, resounding 'Fuck'. This year was going to be hard.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Peridot showed up to school acting like nothing had ever happened.

It was a surprisingly simple task. She only needed to get them to stop asking questions, not actually convince them she was okay. It only took the excuse of an 'illness' to abate the interrogation and then she was in the clear.

Steven was less convinced than Amethyst. The boy was surprisingly keen-eyed and had a weary look in his eyes when she dropped her excuse during break. Amethyst had shrugged and plowed on with their conversation about last night's dinner.

Still, all was right in the world.

That was until Steven pulled her aside in the hallway on their way to second period. It caught Peridot off guard and she did her best to steady herself as he tugged on her elbow, drawing her into a little cubby entrance.

 **"Alright I know something is going on with you, so you may as well just tell me!"**

Peridot ran through some excuses in her head, fidgeting with her books.

 **"W-well, I-I.."** She petered out into silence. She had known all along lying to Steven was a loosing battle. He was watching her with those eyes, expectant, arms crossed like an angry mother. His jandals tapped against the linoleum. The seconds that stretched out were filled by the percussive tap of his shoes.

Eventually Peridot threw her hands up in exasperation.

 **"Fine you caught me! But promise you won't tell anyone, not even Amethyst..."**

Steven was less angry now, more curious as he leaned in towards her. To their group, keeping a secret from one person was a huge measure of the severity of said secret.

 **"Go on.."**

He prompted, drawing an 'x' across his chest.

 **"Well,"** Godammit this was hard. "I kind of have a small, teeny-weeny, incy-wincy little crush on our new English teacher," Peridot squeaked out, getting quieter with each adjective. Her face was stressed and vulnerable as she watched Steven's face twist around to express something like concern.

 **"Mrs. Lazuli?"** He asked in disbelief.

Peridot knew he would react this way. At least it wasn't Amethyst, she wouldn't have kept her trap shut. She steadied the glasses on her nose then looked down at her own feet. Her posture told him his answer.

 **"But she's so ... mean? You were scared of her! That's why I thought you ran out of the classroom!"** Steven nearly yelled, struggling to keep his voice under control.

Peridot flinched. He noticed her behaviour? But he was completely focussed on his work the entire time? How was his level of perception even allowed? Great. Now she had to defend her odd behaviour.

 **"No, it's not fear!"** Peridot said defensively, her face reddening. She could feel an unpleasant warmth sweep across her body. Steven noticed, she could tell by the way he smirked. **"Its more ... intimidation? Romantic intimidation,"** Peridot tried to justify.

For a moment it was quiet as Steven absorbed this new information. A thousand scuffling noises bounced their way as more students spilled out of their classrooms to add to the traffic. The transition from period to period was nearly over. They had little time.

 **"Okay well .. look, Peri, I only want you to be safe. I won't tell Amethyst a thing, just don't make things weird for us because we're still her students,"** Peridot nodded at these prerequisites, her embarassment growing. Steven had that authoritive tone on display, one that she couldn't argue with. **"And for godsake try to act a little normal around her, otherwise you may as well wear a love confession on your forehead."**

Peridot nearly damn well shrivelled at that last comment. She fought for control of her voice.

 **"Well if your all done,"** Her voice wavered, **"then lets head back to class!"**

Peridot stamped off towards the hall of students. She could hear Steven tutting as she strode out into the hallway. She girl rounded the corner hastily, her backpack swinging with the momentum.

There was a flash of blue and then suddenly Peridot was on her back on the floor.

The gasping of students filled the hallway and that fast-paced traffick came to a halt as people circled around the unfolding scene.

Peridot groaned and pushed her books off of her chest. She opened her eyes. It was blurry.

Peridot did a blind shuffle against the black floor with her hands, trying to find her glasses and staunch the beginnings of a headache.

They reached something solid. It was her glasses!

What the fuck had happened?

Peridot put them on and looked up to wear Mrs. Lazuli was standing with a hand extended downwards as if to offer her help. Peridot felt her heart quicken and that agonizing red glow of embarassment returned to her skin. The fact that she could've bumped into anybody around that corner from the school, and it HAD to be her teacher was just an indication of how lucky she was going to be this year.

Nervously Peridot accepted the offer of help, and splayed her fingers against the teachers cool palms.

She could see Steven watching her from the crowd of students. He was worried, first and foremost, because she had taken quite a tumble but he was also quietly observant.

Peridot dared to look into Mrs. Lazuli's eyes. They were blue. A very dull blue. They expressed a look of concern, which was unfitting of Peridot's impression of the female thus far.

All she'd ever seen was dissapointment and wit. This gentle hospitality made her swoon.

 **"I am so sorry, I didn't have enough time to react,"**

It was a while before Peridot realized the teacher had said something.

The students around them dispersed, bored and late for their classes. All except for Steven, who hovered a good meter from the pair.

 **"N-no, please,"** Peridot fumbled, **"It was my fault! I went around that corner at a crazy speed,"** She finished, cringing inside her head. Mrs. Lazuli looked at the girl curiously.

The teacher either didn't notice her stuttering or didn't care. She'd probably dealt with a wide variety of students in her career. Some were probably intimidated by her, just like Peridot was. Very intimidated.

 **"Anyways. I hope your feeling okay. Better get yourself checked into medical!"**

Mrs. Lazuli turned around to leave. It was only then that Peridot had noticed their hands were still in contact. The girl shivered as she felt the teacher's fingers drift lazily from her hands, turning her back to walk in the opposite direction.

A headache cropped up and she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

 **"I told you to act normal around her!"** He laughed, putting a hand on his stomach as he bent at the hips, sputtering at the ridiculousness of it all.

Peridot made a resounding, shakey sigh.

Great.


End file.
